MADRID, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- The bus driver who involved in Monday's bus crash, which killed five and left five others seriously injured in the town of Aviles in northern Spain, reportedly may have suffered a "health problem.
Union sources confirmed on Wednesday the driver had previously suffered "vertigo and dizzy spells."
The driver, Omar Lopez, had worked for the bus operators 'Alsa' for 7 years and had passed a medical examination in April this year, but in 2015 he needed 11 months sick leave due to health problem.
The accident happened when the bus hit a concrete post supporting an overhead viaduct in an area of roadworks.
It now appears that the bus ran out of control for around 300 meters and knocked over dozens of plastic barriers surrounding the ongoing construction work on the viaduct.
Delia Losa, the Spanish government delegate for the region of Asturias where the accident took place, noted Tuesday that a health issue suffered by Lopez was the main cause of the tragedy, adding that there was no indication Lopez had tried to apply the brakes on the bus.
"There are no signs of braking on the road surface which show the driver was able to react, which indicate he had suffered a problem, but that is for the medical services to decide," she commented.
Losa added that had the driver merely lost concentration "he would have been able to react because the barriers that were being dragged by the bus would have alerted him."
The front section of the bus was split into two by the force of the impact, which happened in a zone with a maximum speed limit of 70 kilometers an hour. All of the five people who died were sitting in the front rows, while Lopez lost a leg in the collision.
The driver is currently receiving treatment at the Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, where doctors are working to save his other leg, but his delicate condition means that investigators have not yet been able to interview him.
